AWIC Healthcare Report for Elliot Lake and Blind River - Final

8/13/2019 AWIC Healthcare Report for Elliot Lake and Blind River - Final

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Healthcare Report

2013

Blind River & Elliot Lake


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Acknowledgements

Algoma Workforce Investment Committee (AWiC) would like to thank our community partners

for their insight and contributions in developing and undertaking initiatives that address localworkforce development issues.

Together we will continue to make strides in building a skilled, effective and adaptable

workforce.

Thank you to the Far North East Training Board (FNETB) for allowing us to use the format of

their Healthcare Occupations in the Far Northeast Training Board Area (A Labour MarketForecast) as a template for this report.

Thank you to the Elliot Lake Centre for Development and Courtney Mathison for conducting

surveys with Healthcare employers in Elliot Lake and Blind River.


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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 1

Why Healthcare? ..................................................................................................... 3

The Healthcare Sector as an Employer .................................................................... 4

Healthcare in Elliot Lake and Blind River ................................................................. 5

An Aging and Declining Population ......................................................................... 6

Looming Skills Shortages and Vacancies in Healthcare ............................................ 9

Statistics Canada Data Analysis ............................................................................. 12

AWIC Survey Results ............................................................................................. 15Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 19


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Why Healthcare?

Not only is the Healthcare Sector important because of the role it plays in the well-being of

individuals, it is also important as a major source of employment. The purpose of this report isto look at the issues facing the Healthcare Sector in general and the impact on two communities

in Algoma, Elliot Lake and Blind River. These two communities were chosen for this initial study

because Healthcare is a major employer in each of the communities and each community has an

aging population, which we will see has a significant impact on the demand for Healthcare

related services and the supply of people with the necessary skills entering the sector as the

workforce ages and retires.

The data included in this report is the result of surveys conducted with Healthcare employers in

Elliot Lake and Blind River, combined with Statistics Canada census data. Together the data from

these sources provides a picture of the current Healthcare workforce and allows us to identify

trends that will have an impact of on the future workforce.

This report should be seen as a living document and a s new information, such as 2011 Census

data or new data from local Healthcare employers, becomes available we will update the

report.

Thank you,

Jonathan Coulman

Executive Director, AWIC


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The Healthcare Sector as an Employer

As shown in Table 1 , the Healthcare sector is a

major employer in Canada employing over 2.1

million people. In fact it is second only to Trade

(Retail and Wholesale) in terms of total

employment in Canada and accounts for about

12% of the jobs in Canada.

The picture is slightly different in Ontario as

Healthcare is the 3rd largest employer behind

Trade and Manufacturing. However it still

represents 11% of the jobs in Ontario and this

percentage could rise with an increase in

demand for Healthcare related services and a

continued slowdown in the Manufacturing

sector.

TABLE 1Distribution of employed people by industry for Canada and Ontario

2012Canada Ontario

thousandsAll industries 17,507.70 6,783.70Goods-producing sector 3,872.00 1,421.90

Agriculture 309.2 94.2Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas 369.1 37.1

Utilities 140.7 55.6Construction 1,267.50 434.4Manufacturing 1,785.50 800.5

Service-producing sector 13,635.70 5,361.90Trade 2,643.80 990.1Transportation and warehousing 849.4 316.6Finance, insurance, real estate and leasing 1,093.20 509.1

Professional, scientific and technical services 1,299.30 563.8

Business, building and other support services 690.5 293.7

Educational services 1,287.70 504.2Health care and social assistance 2,128.00 762

Information, culture and recreation 790.4 332.8Accommodation and food services 1,102.40 416Other services 795.3 290.9Public administration 955.9 382.7

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM, table 282-0008.

N a t i o n a l l y, o v e r 8 2 % o f t h o s e w o r k i n g i n t h e H e a l t h c a r e s e c t o r a r e w o m a n .
http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/search-recherche?lang=eng&searchTypeByBalue=1&pattern=282-0008&p2=37http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/search-recherche?lang=eng&searchTypeByBalue=1&pattern=282-0008&p2=37http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/search-recherche?lang=eng&searchTypeByBalue=1&pattern=282-0008&p2=37


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Note that the Other Services sector is

comprised of establishments not

classified to any other sector, and those

providing personal care services from

their home. As populations continue to

age, Personal Support Workers who

provide services to seniors living at

home will play a larger role in the

Healthcare solution for communities .

Healthcare in Elliot Lake and Blind River

Similar to the rest of Canada, Healthcare is also a major

employer in Elliot Lake and Blind River. Table 2 and

Table 3 show the top 5 sectors of employment in each

community based on the number of employers in the

sector and size of the organizations. Both the Healthcare

and Other Services sectors are counted in the top 5 for

both Elliot Lake and Blind River.

If you take into account the size of the employers, the

Healthcare sector has the most employers with at least 20 employees in each community. Forexample, in Elliot Lake the largest employer is St. Joseph s General Hospital with more than 200

employees.

TABLE 2 Elliot Lake Top 5 Sectors by Number of Employers and Employment Size Ranges

Total 0 1-4 5-9 10 -19 20 -49 50 -99 100 -199

200 -499

500 +

Total 420 139 148 64 38 21 7 2 1 0

Other Services (except publicadministration)

67 19 35 10 3 0 0 0 0 0

Retail Trade 66 13 26 12 10 2 3 0 0 0 Construction 45 18 18 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 40 27 9 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 Healthcare and Social Assistance 34 5 13 3 4 6 2 0 1 0

Source: Derived from Business Register Division, Statist ics Canada

TABLE 3 Blind River Top 5 Sectors by Number of Employers and Employment Size Ranges

Total 0 1-4 5-9 10 -19

20 -49

50 -99 100 -199 200 -499 500 +

Total 245 98 81 32 15 14 3 2 0 0

Retail Trade 46 14 18 5 5 4 0 0 0 0 Construction 32 15 9 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 Accommodation and Food Services 26 8 5 7 4 2 0 0 0 0 Healthcare and Social Assistance 22 3 10 4 2 2 0 1 0 0 Other Services (except publicadministration)

22 6 14 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

Source: Derived from Business Register, Statistics Canada, June 2012


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An Aging and Declining Population

According to the 2011 Census, the median age in Canada is 40.6 years and the median age of

Ontario's population increased by 1.4 years between 2006 and 2011, from 39.0 years to 40.4 years.

Median age is the point where exactly half the population is older and the other half is younger.

Table 4 shows that the median age of the population in Algoma is considerably older than that of

Canada and Ontario. It should be noted, however, that it is similar to other areas in Northern

Ontario.

TABLE 4Median Age of Algoma Compared to Ontario & Canada

Median Age

2006 2011

Canada 39.5 40.6

Ontario 39.0 40.4

Algoma 45.0 47.2

Source: Statistics Canada, Focus on Geography Series, 2011Census

Looking specifically at the median ages of Blind River and Elliot Lake, both are higher than the

region s. In fact based on median age Elliot Lake is the oldest community in Ontario and the second

oldest in Canada. 35.1% of the population is aged 65 and older.

Source: Globe and Mail


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TABLE 5Median Age of Communities in Algoma

2006-2011

CommunityMedian Age

2006 2011

Blind River 46.1 48.7

Elliot Lake 54.8 57.1Source: Statistics Canada, Focus on Geography Series, 2011 Census

Not only is the population aging, it is also declining. Table 5 shows the change in population between

the 2006 and 2011. Blind River alone had 6.1% decrease in population which is significant when

compared to a 1.4% and 1.7% decrease for the District of Algoma and Elliot Lake respectively.

The declining population is an issue unto itself, but perhaps more important is how the population is

declining. Certainly birthrates for the area are lower than they were in the past, but out-migration

also plays a role in the declining population. Although out-migration numbers are not available for

individual towns, we can find numbers for the district as a whole and it is safe to assume that these

trends would be similar for each of the communities in the region.

Table 6 shows the number of people moving to and leaving the District of Algoma. The cohorts with

the most significant out-migration are those aged 18-24 and 25-44. These two cohorts represent thepopulation who are entering the workforce and those in their prime career years. The loss of

population in these age ranges will continue to have a significant impact of the development of the

workforce and the local economy.

TABLE 6Net-Migration for Algoma by Age Group

2006-2011

Age Group In-migrants Out-migrants Net-migrants0-17 3,114 2,766 34818-24 1,671 2,831 -1,16025-44 4,700 5,229 -52945-64 3,179 2,607 57265+ 1,296 1,677 -381

Total 13,960 15,110 -1,150Source: Statistics Canada, Taxfiler


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Table 7 and 8 show change in total population by age in Elliot Lake and Blind River. The tables clearly

indicate the aging population based on the number of people over the age of 50 and the dip in

population after the age of 19 as the result of out-migration. Both charts also show the general

decrease in population across all age ranges.

TABLE 7 Elliot Lake Change in Total Population by Age, 2006-2011

Source: Statistic Canada, 2006-2011 Census Profiles

TABLE 8 Blind River Change in Total Population by Age, 2006-2011

Source: Statistic Canada, 2006-2011 Census Profiles

0200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

2011 11,350 2006 11,550

050

100150200250300350400

2011 3,545 2006 3,780


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Looming Skills Shortages and Vacancies in Healthcare

The impact of an aging and declining population on Healthcare in theregion is two-fold:

As the population ages there will be more demand for Healthcare and

Healthcare related services. This means that in order to meet that increased

demand the sector will have to be able to continue to grow.

The aging population also means an aging workforce and a subsequent increase

in retirement rates from the Healthcare sector. This combined with a general

decline in population means that there are less people available to replace those

leaving the workforce resulting in the potential for job vacancies in the sector

and a possible lack of services.


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CIBCs December 3rd, 2012 In Focus

research paper entitled The Haves and

Have Nots of Canada s Labour Market

provides an analysis of Canadas job

market. The paper focuses on the growing

divide between occupations that have a

lack of qualified resources and growing

vacancies versus those that have a surplus

labour pool and decreasing employment

opportunities.

Table 9 shows the 25 occupations

identified in the report that are facing skills

shortages. 13 of the occupations are

traditional Healthcare roles. It could be

argued that other occupations facing

shortages such as Accountants, Human

Resource Professionals, Psychologists and

Social Workers also have an impact on the

Healthcare sector.

Source: The Haves and Have Nots of Canadas LabourMarket, CIBC World Markets Inc., December 3, 2012

TABLE 925 Occupations Showing Signs of Skills Shortages

1. Managers in Engineering, Architecture, Science& Info Systems

2. Managers in Health, Education, Social andCommunity Services

3. Managers in Construction and Transportation4. Auditors, Accountants and Investment

Professionals5. Human Resources and Business Service

Professionals6. Professional Occupations in Natural and Applied

Sciences7. Physical Science Professionals

8. Life Science Professionals9. Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical

Engineers10. Other Engineers11. Professional Occupations in Health12. Physicians, Dentists and Veterinarians13. Optometrists, Chiropractors and Other Health

Diagnosing and Treating Professionals14. Pharmacists, Dietitians and Nutritionists15. Therapy and Assessment Professionals16. Nurse Supervisors and Registered Nurses17. Technical and Related Occupations in Health18. Medical Technologists and Technicians (Except

Dental Health)19. Technical Occupations in Dental Healthcare20. Other Technical Occupations In Healthcare

(Except Dental)21. Psychologists, Social Workers, Counsellors,

Clergy and Probation Officers22. Supervisors, Mining, Oil and Gas23. Underground Miners, Oil and Gas Drillers and

Related Workers24. Supervisors in Manufacturing25. Supervisors, Processing Occupations


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Table 10 was prepared by the C.D. Howe Institute and compares the ratios of vacancies to

unemployment by sector. On a Canada wide basis, it clearly shows that as of November 2012, the

demand for qualified Healthcare resources far exceeds the supply.

TABLE 10Job Vacancies and Number of Unemployed Per Sector, Canada

Source: Who Is Still Standing in Line? Addressing a Mismatch of Skills and Jobs in the Canadian Labour Market, C.D. Howe Institute E-Brief, March 6, 2013


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Statistics Canada Data Analysis

Utilizing Census of Canada custom data, it was possible to determine the percentage of workers in the

Selected Healthcare Occupations who were under the age of 45 and those who were 45 years of age

and over. The following table indicates that 48% of the labour forces in Selected Healthcare

Occupations is in the 45 years + category, while the balance (52%) were under the age of 45 years.

Based on the assumption that almost all of the 45+ year olds will retire by the age of 65 years, this

means that an estimated 245 individuals currently working in Healthcare in Blind River and Elliot Lake

will exit the labour force over the next 20 years, resulting in a requirement to develop a succession

plan to replace them.

TABLE 11Workers in Blind River and Elliot Lake Occupations and Selected Healthcare Occupations

Under 45 and Over 45 Years2006

Total of allOccupations in BlindRiver and Elliot Lake

Selected HealthcareOccupations

% of Total inSelected Healthcare

Occupations

% of SelectedHealthcare

Occupationsunder the age of

45

% of SelectedHealthcare

Occupations 45years+

6,345 510 8.0% 52.0% 48.0%

Next it is important to demonstrate the exit patterns from the labour force for all Healthcare

occupations over the next 20 years. This is done by looking at the percentage of the current labour

force that is in various five-year cohorts as follows:

TABLE 12Blind River and Elliot Lake Selected Healthcare Occupations

Projected Exit Patterns by Five Year Age Cohorts2006-2026

15-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65+ TotalHealthcare

Workers45+ Years

TotalHealthcare

Workers15+

# of Healthcare Workers 265 65 95 50 10 30 250 515% of Healthcare Workers 45+ 26.0% 38.0% 20.0% 4.0% 12.0% 100.0%% of All Healthcare Workers 15+ 12.6% 18.4% 9.7% 1.9% 5.8% 48.5%


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The preceding table provides an indication of the pattern of projected retirements of people in the

Healthcare Occupations over the next 20 years. Based on 2006 Census Data, it is reasonable to

assume that most of those over the age of 60 years retired over the five years between 2006 and

2011, resulting in an estimated loss of 7.7% of the people in these occupations. Using the same logic,

in the next five years (2011-2016), another 9.7% are projected to retire, resulting in the loss of 17.4%

of these occupations by 2016. In the next five-year period (2016 2021) another 18.4% are projected

to retire, resulting in a total reduction of 35.8% of the current occupants by 2021.

Tables 13 and 14 show the same patterns broken out for Elliot Lake and Blind River individually.

TABLE 13Elliot Lake Selected Healthcare Occupations



Workers45+ Years

TotalHealthcare

Workers15+

# of Healthcare Workers 215 35 85 35 10 20 185 400

% of Healthcare Workers 45+ 19% 46% 19% 5% 11% 100%

% of All Healthcare Workers 15+ 8.8% 21.3% 8.8% 2.5% 5.0% 46%

TABLE 14Blind River Selected Healthcare Occupations



Workers 45+Years

TotalHealthcare

Workers 15+

# of Healthcare Workers 50 30 10 15 0 10 65 115

% of Healthcare Workers 45+ 46.2% 15.4% 23.1% 0.0% 15.4% 100%% of All Healthcare Workers 15+ 26.1% 8.7% 13.0% 0.0% 8.7% 57%


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Statistics Canada data is also available for individual Healthcare occupations. Table 15 shows the

number of total number of individuals and individuals 45+ working in 15 Healthcare related

occupations. The table is sorted based on the proportion of individuals over 45 in each of the

occupations. Those with the highest proportion of individuals over the age of 45 will be impacted

most as people leave the professions, mainly due to retirement, over the next 20 years.

The occupations with more than 50% of the workforce over 45 are: Specialist Physicians; Dieticians &

Nutritionists; Licensed Practical Nurses; Family Physicians; Lab Technologists & Pathologists

Assistants; Nurse Aides; Registered Nurses; Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists and other technical

occupations in Therapy & Assessment.

TABLE 15Individuals 45+ in Selected Healthcare Occupations

Occupations Population 15years and over

Population 45years and over

% 45Years +

Total work force 6345 3215 50.7

Health occupations 510 245 48.0

3111 Specialist physicians 10 10 100.0

3121 Dietitians and nutritionists 10 10 100.0

3233 Licensed practical nurses 35 30 85.7

3112 General practitioners and family physicians 45 30 66.73211 Medical laboratory technologists and pathologists'assistants

15 10 66.7

3413 Nurse aides, orderlies and patient serviceassociates

100 55 55.0

3152 Registered nurses 125 65 52.0

3222 Dental hygienists and dental therapists 20 10 50.0

3235 Other technical occupations in therapy andassessment

20 10 50.0

3414 Other assisting occupations in support of health

services

45 10 22.2

3123 Other professional occupations in healthdiagnosing and treating

15 0 0.0

3142 Physiotherapists 10 0 0.0

3151 Head nurses and supervisors 10 0 0.0

3217 Cardiology technologists 10 0 0.0

3234 Ambulance attendants and other paramedicaloccupations

30 0 0.0

*Note that this table is based on 2006 Statistics Canada data. It will be updated with 2011 data when it isavailable (summer 2013).


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AWIC Survey Results

To obtain locally-generated data AWIC, with the help of the Elliot Lake Centre for Development,

conducted a survey of Healthcare employers in Elliot Lake and Blind River. In total 27 employers

responded to the survey representing over 700 employees.

The survey asked respondents to provide an indication of the number of employees with their

organizations. As Table 16 indicates, the majority of respondents (59%) represent small

(1 15 employees) organizations.

TABLE 16Size of Respondent Organizations

# of Employees Frequency Percent Total Number of EmployeesOwner Operated 1 3.7 0Small (1 - 15) 16 59.3 73Medium (16 - 50) 7 25.9 181Large 51+ 3 11.1 465

Total 27 100 719

It is important to note that, while the majority of respondents represent small organizations, it is the

larger organizations that employ the majority of workers approximately 65%, as table 17

demonstrates.

TABLE 17Current Employee Distribution by Organization Size

Size ofOrganization

Frequency Percent Total Number ofEmployees

Percentage of TotalEmployees

Owner Operated 1 3.7 0 0Small (1 - 15) 16 59.3 73 10.2Medium (16 - 50) 7 25.9 181 25.2Large 51+ 3 11.1 465 64.7

Total 27 100 719 100

The survey also asked employers to reply respecting the full/part-time/contract status of its

employees. The organizations responded as follows, indicating that a majority of the workers are

employed full-time (57.2%), with the balance being part-time (42.1%) and the remainder on a

contract (0.7%).


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TABLE 18Full-Time, Part-Time and Contract Employees

TotalNumber

Full-Time Part-Time Contract

719 411 303 5100.0% 57.2% 42.1% 0.7%

85.3% of Healthcare employees within the sample are female, while only 14.7% are male. This

proportion of females to males is slightly higher than the national average (82%) and indicates that

employment in Healthcare is dominated by a preponderance of women.

Next we attempted to gain a sense of the employers future expectations regarding their need for

more/fewer employees over the next two to five year period. The following table suggests that

employers are anticipating modest growth in employment at their organizations. The highest

anticipated growth is in part-time jobs at 10.2%. It is anticipated that the employment opportunities

within the sector will continue to grow beyond 5 years as there is increased demand for the services.

TABLE 19Expect Employment Growth in the Next 2 5 Years

Total

Number

Full-

Time

Part-

Time

Contract

Current 719 411 303 5Next 2 5 Years 760 424 334 2

% Change +5.7% +3.2% +10.2% -60%

Next, the survey collected information regarding whether organizations had strategies in place to

encourage employees who plan to retire to continue contributing to the success of the

business/organization. 5 out the 27 (18.5%) indicated that they did and most of these employers

where larger employers with more than 10 full-time staff. Reponses as to how retired employees cancontinue to contribute included job sharing, part- time contract work, coverage of sick days and

training.


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The following table captures the types of contributions respondents thought semiretired and retired

employees could make to organizations.

TABLE 20Potential Contributions of Semi-Retired and Retired Persons

Types ofContributions

Frequency Percentage

Mentoring 14 33.3%Training 15 35.7%

Contract Services 11 26.2%Other 2 4.8%TOTAL 42 100.0%

The results of this survey suggest that many respondents have ideas regarding how retiring

employees could be engaged to ease the effects of the aging population trend. However, most

organizations have simply not yet adapted strategies or due to the size of the organization, simply do

not have a large group of retired or retiring employees to draw from.

Also of concern is that only six of the twenty-seven (22%) of organizations indicated that they had a

formal succession plan in place. The organizations without formal succession plans included both

large and small organizations. As a result, this study may serve as a warning bell that such strategies

are currently underutilized by many respondent organizations, and that those organizations

employing individuals in occupations highlighted in the previous section may benefit by adopting such

an approach in their organizations.

The study also collected information on the age breakdown of healthcare employees within the

Algoma region. In general, the data indicates that 68 percent of the employees at respondent

organizations are under the age of 50 years, while approximately one-third (32%) are over the age of

50 years.

TABLE 21Age Breakdown of Employees

Age Category Percentage of Employees in Each AgeCategory

Under 30 13.7%30 - 39 24.2%40 49 30.2%50 59 19.8%

60 + 12.1%


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The following table shows the percentage of people aged 50 years or more by Healthcare occupation.

The information is limited to those employers who completed the survey, so it is does not represent

all occupations or Healthcare employers in Elliot Lake and Blind River. However the results do indicate

which occupations are most affected by an aging workforce and subsequently where the needs are

greatest for succession planning.

For example 75% of the Family Physicians who completed the survey were above the age of 50. This

indicates that recruitment of younger Doctors into the communities should be a focus to maintain the

same level of service as the existing physicians retire. Along similar lines, over half (52%) of Registered

Nurses are over the age of 50.

TABLE 22

% of Workforce 50 Years + by Occupation

Occupations% 50Years +

3011 Nursing co-ordinators and supervisors 100%

3121 Optometrists 100%

3124 Allied primary health practitioners 100%

3221 Denturists 100%

3112 General practitioners and family physicians 75%

3012 Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses 52%

3144 Other professional occupations in therapy and assessment 50%

3113 Dentists 33%

3132 Dieticians and nutritionists 33%

3231 Opticians 33%

3222 Dental hygienists and dental therapists 29%

3219 Other medical technologists and technicians (except dental health) 27%

3233 Licensed practical nurses 27%

3211 Medical laboratory technologists 25%

3131 Pharmacists 8%

3122 Chiropractors 0%

3125 Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating 0%

3141 Audiologists and speech-language pathologists 0%

3142 Physiotherapists 0%

3143 Occupational therapists 0%

3212 Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants 0%

3214Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionist and cardiopulmonarytechnologists

0%

3215 Medical radiation technologists 0%


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